EVANSTON — The Evanston Historic Preservation Commission (EHPC), Rep. Jon Conrad (HD-19) and Evanston City Councilperson Jen Hegeman hosted a meeting about the impending demolition of the original Wyoming State Hospital buildings on Monday, Dec. 4, at the Strand Theatre. The meeting hosted approximately 40 attendees in person and an intermittent number of participants on its Facebook live stream.

“Notice when I said Wyoming State Hospital, I didn’t say ‘old’ ... it’s ‘historic,’ not old,” EHPC Chair Jim Davis said, before giving a brief history of the significance of the meeting’s date. He noted that exactly 155 years ago, Dec. 4, 1868, the Union Pacific railway reached Evanston.

“Perhaps there’s a lot of karma in this room tonight,” he said.

By 1886, four years before statehood, Wyoming territorial legislators provided $30,000 to build a place for the mentally insane.

“‘Lunatics,’ is what the act said,” Davis told the audience. Thus, the historic Wyoming State Hospital began operating in 1897.

“It has always been a major institution or [part] of Evanston’s landscape,” Davis continued.

He said that an arduous application process to become listed on the National Register of Historic Places began in 2000, and the effort was notably achieved in 2003. However, he said its honorable designation doesn’t bring restrictions to what can be done with the property.

“The owner of that property has every right to destroy the property,” Davis said. “Once demolished, it will have to be delisted. That would be a shame if the place is leveled to the ground. That’s why we’re here tonight to talk about that.”

Before introducing Rep. Conrad, he said, “We knew this day was coming when they were going to demolish those buildings, and we don’t really have much power. We’re a board appointed by the mayor. Part of our mission ... was to list, and to preserve and protect various cultural resources within our community, and the Wyoming State Hospital is indeed a local treasure, as well as a statewide treasure, a national treasure.”

Rep. Conrad discussed the currently circulating petition to encourage legislators to delay demolition, which is currently slated for July 2024, for an extra year. Conrad also hopes to garner city leadership support.

The 26-building property currently rests on 110 acres. Conrad said the state legislature has approved $15 million dollars for demolition. Conrad said he doesn’t believe that amount is sufficient.

This year, the Wyoming Department of Health has been approved to spend $2 million; it’s going to ask for another $2-$3 million for construction of a transition building to house demolition equipment. Conrad said that will only cover the destruction of the poorest buildings on the lot, and it will end up becoming a multi-year demolition at the taxpayers’ expense.

Conrad said he is hoping to return that money back to the state, especially since there is already a private investor interested in purchasing the property, including the buildings. “Repurpose, rehabilitate, restore — those buildings are more than ready to be restored,” Conrad said.

He said that, while asbestos is a concern, there is modern technology and resources to successfully abate that problem. Any perception that they’re structurally unsound can also be remedied, as other historic buildings in the region have been, he said. Conrad cited historic Ogden, Utah, structures that have been successfully rehabilitated to their former glory.

“Once the dozers hit those buildings, there’s no turning back,” he said.

He listed several regional economic opportunities to capitalize on the restoration and usage of the buildings, including the soda ash mines in Sweetwater County, the planned nuclear plant in Lincoln County and the likelihood of the 2034 Winter Olympics returning to Salt Lake City.

“We are the door to Wyoming,” he said. “We have an unbelievable opportunity here to restore with private investors, with no money coming from the state.”

Conrad said it’s “our duty” to save the buildings on the old campus.

“We owe it to our predecessors, past, present and future residents of Uinta County, to protect, to preserve and repurpose these critical and historical buildings.”

Hegeman began by recognizing and appreciating Davis’ previous efforts to save and restore the Evanston Roundhouse, the Machine Shop and Depot Square.

“If he says it can be done, it bloody well can be done,” she said, “and the same thing with this theater we’re sitting in.”

Hegeman asserted that it was “criminal” that state legislators voted in favor of demolition without having stepped foot inside the properties.

“There have been lies perpetrated, and there has been misinformation spread throughout the state, and through our community — and they’re inaccurate, and they’re enraging,”

“For this community that is in such desperate need of housing,” she said, before listing the varying needs of seniors and veterans, “there is one expert willing to put up $59 million dollars,” referring to a previously-mentioned private investor, Joe Westerman, who previously purchased Evanston’s Blyth & Fargo building and the former home of Michael’s Bar on Front Street, along with other properties in town.

“Some of them [the buildings] are turnkey, they need a little dusting off,” she said. “To demolish the campus is to steal Evanston’s future.”

Wyoming Department of Health spokesperson Kim Deti said that’s not the case.

“... We do not believe any of the unused buildings could be considered for immediate use,” she told the Herald. “Any of them would require a certain level of investment.”

Hegeman claimed it would be a misappropriation of funds to raze the buildings.

“To take away from the entire state of Wyoming, those are millions of dollars that could go towards other needs throughout the state.”

Deti clarified what funds have been allocated by the state legislature.

“To be clear, there has been no direct state general fund appropriation for abatement and demotion,” she said. “The Wyoming Legislature approved $15 million from WDH reversions (unused funding) if available. To date, roughly $3 million has been transferred to that account. These are currently the only funds available for project work.”

Deti said the cost of demolition would likely exceed $15 million, so with only $3 million transferred so far, the department will prioritize which buildings to raze first.

“There is no public cost estimate for the overall abatement and demolition of the unused buildings, but it’s expected to be more than the $15 million (if unused funds are available). It’s reasonable to expect the buildings in the very worst condition will be the first removed,” she said.

Deti had some good news for those hoping to delay the demolition.

“Because the project is not fully funded, it will be phased,” she said. “The delay some people have requested to prevent removal of buildings they believe should be used for other purposes will occur naturally.”

“Discussions about what to do with the remaining buildings and land began well before we started construction on the modernization project,” Deti continued. “There is ample time for those discussions to continue.”

Hegeman mentioned the possibility of a veterans hospital, and said the current campus could be repurposed for  that, rather than constructing something new elsewhere.

“Those buildings were built for this county ... we need it. We need places; with the influx, we’re about to get hit,” Hegeman said. “Where are those people going to go?”

Conrad reiterated the immediate need for Uinta County residents who would like to save the buildings to express their support for a one-year demolition delay by writing their state legislators. The extra year could afford the community an opportunity to shop for and locate a potential private investor “to put something together to show and demonstrate that we can restore these buildings for our posterity.”

Attendee Gerry Hepper asked, “Under the state’s plan, and the developer’s plan, what is the future of the cemeteries of the State Hospital?”

Davis explained that the original cemetery is on the hillside behind Walmart.

“Those poor souls in those graves have been forgotten,” he said. “There’s probably at least ... maybe 300 souls buried there.”

Davis said the cemetery was never irrigated or properly maintained. He said the commission tries to work on restoring the site and he fears that if the buildings are demolished, they’ll just become overgrown with weeds and trash.

Conrad said the question of what to do with the old campus has been simmering for many years.

Conrad encouraged attendees to let the Wyoming Department of Health know they want the demolition to be delayed.

Lisa Bauman, operator of the Save the old WSH Facebook page and the moderator of the live stream, reiterated the need to spread the information, and she said the quickest way to do that is through social media.

One challenge is that the land the buildings sit on is state-owned. There are, however, provisions that would allow a sale of state land to a private owner based on fair market value. 

In Jan. 2021, Davis served on a committee that oversaw an evaluation by structural engineers and planners at Myers Anderson Architects whose report concluded the buildings were in good shape. Since then, JMW Properties (owned by Westerman), also had an assessment completed on the buildings that they said confirmed that the buildings were indeed usable.

In addition to potentially housing seniors and veterans, Hegeman argued that it could house a younger demographic, “our biggest commodity,” she said. She mentioned that a variety of educational opportunities had also been previously proposed, including a possible culinary institute.

Brian Davis asked what the legislative pushback was against the extended year.

Conrad said, “This has been going on for many, many, many years. There is some concern that one year is going to turn into five, five turns into 10, etc. Plans have already been put into place, you’re at the 11th hour. We’ve (the legislature) made decisions; you can’t just step in as a freshman [legislator] and stop this.”

An online viewer wondered, “Why spend so much money on saving the Roundhouse and not the State Hospital which was built around the same era?”

Davis explained that a lot of the Roundhouse restoration funding came from the state, but that Evanston city leadership supported the measure.

An online participant wondered whether a special ballot measure could show that Evanstonians care about the buildings.

Conrad used this opening as a way to divulge that he, too, had voted in favor of the demolition.

“I sit before you today as one who voted for that bill,” he said. “I didn’t know the whole story. I knew what I was told. I now recognize … the citizens of Evanston and many others within Uinta County want to see those buildings preserved. And for that vote, I apologize. I’m sorry.”

Conrad said he and other legislators were told the buildings were dilapidated and soon to collapse but, having seen their condition with his own eyes, he now realizes that simply isn’t true.

Jim Davis encouraged everyone to sign the petition, and encourage others to, as well.

Representative Ryan Berger was in attendance and spoke toward the end of the evening.  He talked about the popular idea of using the campus to expand higher-level educational facilities, such as Western Wyoming Community College.

He said his daughter, a recent college graduate and educator who has since returned to teach in Evanston and is struggling to find affordable housing, told him that she wouldn’t want to live in the hypothetically rehabbed hospital buildings.

“I, too, as a freshman legislator, voted for the same appropriation order of money,” Berger said. “We’re ‘reclaiming the land that we used.’”

He said he was unaware of the actual condition of the buildings, though he wished he had known more.

“I’m not going to apologize for my vote, because my vote was where it was,” he said, adding that going forward he’s interested in listening. “If it’s the 12th hour we gotta go to, then let’s go. But the question is ‘When we do everything we can and we don’t get the answer we want, then what do we do?’ Do we accept that?”

Hegeman immediately addressed Berger, saying, “Where the hell have you been? These are your constituents. If you want all of us hardworking Wyomingans (sic) to roll out a red carpet for you, that ain’t gonna happen. Get off your ass and do your job.”

Evanston City Councilman Jesse Lind asked, “When it comes to any kind of pushback you get from any of your constituents, does it have anything to do with the possibility of it going from state land to private land?”

Conrad said the largest challenge he’s facing is the timeline and the seemingly sudden expediency the save the hospital. Approximately 60% of the people he’s talked to agree that it’s too late, he said, and the remaining 40% are people who think, “That’s state land, how are you going to do that?”

Davis reiterated “Yes, it’s the 11th hour but, damnit, 8, 9, 10, 11 years ago, we didn’t have representation.”

He said that when the act was passed to create the new buildings, there weren’t any representatives to question or fight for the fate of the original ones.

Resident Kevin Kallas spoke at the end of the meeting, stating that while he initially doubted and even fought against the restoration projects of the Roundhouse and the Machine Shop, he’s changed his tune. “If Jim says it can be done, it can be done, and I’m all in,” he said.

Deti reiterated that the decision to raze the buildings was made by lawmakers.

“As a reminder, decisions about what should be done with buildings and land the hospital no longer uses are decisions made by elected policymakers,” she said.